Hi COTC! 

The Easter season is for joy. It’s fifty days for feasting and celebrating the resurrection. These weeks are meant to be a taste of what we will experience in the fullness of God's new creation. I wanted to highlight three upcoming Eastertide ways to joyful engage in the celebration of resurrection life.

• The resurrection of Jesus reaffirms for us the goodness of creation, including the human body. This Saturday afternoon join us (4-6pm) to celebrate David Taylor’s new book A Body of Praise, which celebrates the good gift of our bodies and the way they help us participate in glorifying God. This will be a casual time of hanging out (kids are welcome!) with a brief opportunity to hear from David about the book. RSVP here. 

• Jesus’ resurrection is the clear initial sign of God’s new creation coming to fruition. As his followers, we anticipate and participate in this joyful reality, in part, by proclaiming its reality in word and deed. We’re privileged to partner with Hope Clinic in this work of announcing and embodying the Gospel. During this Easter season you can participate with Hope Clinic through the making of a hygiene bag for their patients, and also by attending their upcoming open house. Details and registration are below. 

• That the resurrection is so physical suggests how the Gospel touches on the material reality of our lives. One of the hopes we have for the church property at 8140 Exchange Dr. is that it would be an expression of the Gospel and a place where people encounter the risen Lord Jesus. That is obviously an ongoing and multi-year project. On Saturday, April 29th, however, we are going to take some small steps toward improving the building and property for use for Gospel ministry. This will be a joyful time of work, prayer and fellowship together. Please read more and register here. We’d love to have you even for a portion of the day. I keep thinking about the closing credits of Wall-E in relation to the work day. There’s something of the new creation in them! 

Rejoicing with you,

Peter+

Ps. Please be praying for our youth retreat this coming Saturday. Please pray for Reid and the youth leaders as well as the students participating! Please also pray for those who will be confirmed at our service on Sunday, April 30th, Bishop Todd will be with us. Pray for the confirmands to receive the Holy Spirit in a deeper way and to be empowered for mission in their vocations. Lastly, our diocese is in the process of electing a new Suffragan (assisting) Bishop. The bishop-elect is Brian Wallace, an Anglican priest here in Austin, a former speaker at our parish retreat, and a friend and support to the clergy of COTC. Please be praying for this process and for Brian and his wife, Lisa, in this time.